Gaseous hydrocarbon wells often may accumulate liquids within a wellbore conduit thereof. These liquids may slow, resist, block, and/or occlude flow of a wellbore fluid stream within the wellbore conduit, thereby decreasing a production rate of the wellbore fluid stream from the wellbore conduit. This especially may be true late in the lifetime of the gaseous hydrocarbon well and/or after the production rate of the wellbore fluid stream decreases below a threshold production rate.
Plungers may be utilized to remove the accumulated liquids from the wellbore conduit, thereby improving, or increasing, the production rate of the wellbore fluid stream. Historically, plungers either continuously trip (travel) within the wellbore conduit or rest within a lubricator at the surface and are released into the wellbore conduit responsive to surface measurements and controls.
While either of these approaches may be used to remove accumulated liquids from the wellbore conduit under certain conditions, each has distinct limitations. As illustrative, non-exclusive examples, a continuously tripped plunger may generate unnecessary wear of well components and/or constantly may restrict flow of the wellbore fluid stream therepast. As additional illustrative, non-exclusive examples, plungers that are housed within the well's lubricator may rely upon inaccurate surface measurements of well performance and/or may require that the gaseous hydrocarbon well be shut in to permit the plunger to travel into the wellbore conduit to be used to remove liquids from the wellbore conduit. Thus, there exists a need for improved selectively actuated plungers and/or for systems and methods that include the selectively actuated plungers.